The station of The Universal House of Justice

The Universal House of Justice, which the Guardian said would be regarded by posterity as "the last refuge of a tottering civilization," is now, in the absence of the Guardian, the sole infallibly guided institution in the world to which all must turn, and on it rests the responsibility for ensuring the unity and progress of the Cause of God in accordance with the revealed Word. There are statements from the Master and the Guardian indicating that the Universal House of Justice, in addition to being the highest legislative body of the Faith, is also the body to which all must tum, and is the "apex" of the Baha'i Administrative Order, as well as the "supreme organ of the Baha'i Commonwealth." The Guardian has in his writings specified for the House of Justice such fundamental functions as the formulation of future worldwide teaching plans, the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, and the guidance, organization, and unification of the affairs of the Cause throughout the world. Furthermore in God Passes By the Guardian makes the following statement. "The Kitab-i Aqdas...not only preserves for posterity the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order must rest, but ordains, in addition to the function of interpretation which it confers upon His successor, the necessary institutions through which the integrity and unity of His Faith can alone be safe-guarded." He has also, in "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah," written that the members of the Universal House of Justice "and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the Divine guidance which is at once the lifeblood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation."

(THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE, Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice Baha’i World Centre Published by The Baha’i Publishing Trust, 6 Mount Pleasant, Oakham, England.)